Experiences and perceptions of antisemitism. Second survey on discrimintation and hate crime against Jews in the EU

European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) published a report on the latest study on discrimination and hate against Jews in the EU. According to the average results, almost 90% of the respondents said that in the last five years in their country the phenomenon of anti-Semitism has intensified.

A report presents the main findings of FRA’s second survey on Jewish people’s experiences and perceptions of hate crime, discrimination and antisemitism. It analyses data from the responses of 16,395 selfidentified Jewish people (aged 16 or over) in 12 EU Member States – Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. These Member States are home to over 96% of the EU’s estimated Jewish population.

According to the average results, almost 90% of the respondents said that in the last five years in their country the phenomenon of anti-Semitism has intensified.

A large majority of respondents (85 %) consider antisemitism and racism to be the most pressing problems across the EU Member States surveyed.

Over 80 % of respondents in ve countries (Belgium, France, Germany, Poland, and Sweden) saw antisemitism as ‘a very big’ or ‘a fairly big problem’ – in France, this share reaches 95 % of respondents. A large majority of respondents in Austria, Belgium, France, Hungary, Italy, Poland, and Sweden saw racism as ‘a very big’ or ‘a fairly big problem’ in the country where they live (depending on the country, between 82 % and 91 % of the respondents hold this view).

Respondents were also asked whether they feel that antisemitism has increased or decreased in the country they live in during the ve years before the survey. According to a large majority of respondents in all 12 survey countries, antisemitism is increasing – having increased ‘a lot’ or ‘a little’ in the past ve years, which corresponds roughly to the interval between the two surveys (2012 and 2018). The percentage of respondents indicating that antisemitism increased during the past ve years is especially high (about 90 %) in Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden,and the United Kingdom. Most of these are also countries where, as shown earlier, respondents were most likely to say that antisemitism is ‘a very big’ or ‘a fairly big problem’ today. However, in the other six EU Member States, the majority of respondents (over 70 %) also feel that antisemitism increased during the past ve years.

A large majority of respondents (89 %) consider antisemitism expressed online as a problem in the country they live in.

A large majority of respondents (88 %) believe that antisemitism online has increased over the past five years; most say it has increased ‘a lot’.

Most survey respondents say they are regularly exposed to negative statements about Jews. A large majority of respondents across all survey countries (80 %) identify the internet as the most common forum for negative statements.